Baby Shower Card

I made this card for a baby shower for a lady at work who is having a little girl. I can't wait to see what she looks like!

I Used:
- Kate's ABC - coat and layers, page 43 - I think it looks more like a little dress :)
- Forever Young - hanger and layers, page 58; I used the Gypsy to hide the flower
- Cuttlebug Folder - Swiss Dots
- Ranger Stickles
- Ranger - Perfect Pearls
- Crafty Secrets - Congratulations sentiment
- Martha Stewart Vintage Doily Punch Around the Page Set
- Marvy - Liquid Applique
- CTMH - Liquid Glass

Here's How:
I ran the dress through the Cuttlebug using Swiss Dots and put the little dress together. The little flowers pieces were a BIG challenge! Maybe I'll try tweezers next time. I added stickles on the cuffs for buttons and in the centers of the flowers.

A butterfly goes with the dress but I used it on tag with the sentiment and on the bottom of the border. Confession time: the Vintage Doily punch did not quite line up and made more holes on the left end of the border then there was supposed to be (does that make any sense???). So I used the butterfly to cover up that boo-boo.

I brushed the pink card stock with Perfect Pearls and then glued the dress to the cardstock on an angle.

Now for the hanger: I cut it too big so I had to trim it down by hand which was okay since that part was going to be hidden. I applied the Liquid Applique not knowing what would happen but hoping for the best. I was hoping it would like those fancy hangers that are padded with satin and look a little scrunched up. I think it came out quite well :)  I ended up gluing down the hook part of the hanger - that it went up like that was just driving me crazy!

Last, I just inked the edges of the tag, stamped my sentiment and added another butterfly from the dress.

Christmas Angel Ornament

I decided to make another Christmas angel. Here's the first, which I made back in November: Rejoice Christmas Card. This time I chose a different cut from the cartridge and made her into an ornament so I can enter her for the Cricut Circle Blog weekly challenge.

I Used:
- Art Nouveau Cartridge: Woman4 and layers, p50; swan and layers (I hid the swan and used only the wings), p64
- CTMH - Vanilla Cream Stamp Pad for the skin color
- Jolee - Rhinestones
- SEI Couture for the dress (that cardstack is gorgeous!!)
- Glitter from my stash
- Seam Binding - I dyed it with Scarlett Tattered Angels Mist and Red Peppers Ranger Alcohol Ink
- Micron .005 pen for the facial features

Here's How:
Well, this time it was pretty straight forward. I used a dauber to color in her flesh. I put the pieces of the woman together. I used my Micron pen to draw in her lips and nose. I also used Prisma pencils to add shading on the face and body.

I colored the bottom wing a lilac kind of color for shading. I then added lots of glitter! On the wings and on the dress.

Last, I just tied my seam binding into a bow and attached it to the back with double sided tape.

I am really pleased with how she came out :)  Here she is on the tree - Sorry for the bad pic, I took it with my camera phone.

Gingerbread Man Holiday Box

I got my mom a beautiful, sparkling (she likes sparkles) locket for Christmas. Inside the locket will be the picture of her grandson, Anders. I am going to package the locket in this box I made for her. :)

I Used:
- Art Philosophy Circut Cartidge: Chinese Take Out Container - font layer+shift page 24
- Jolly Holidays Cricut Cartridge: Gingerbread Man - gngrbrd and gngrbrd+shift - I used the Gypsy to hide the cuts for the face so I could use the Peachy Keen stamp
- Joy of the Seasons Cartridge: Candycane -candy, page 47 - I used the Gypsy to hide the peppermint candy
- Red Buttons from my stash
- Viva Decor Glitter Liner: Holo Iridescent
- Basic Grey Paper: Nordic Holiday
- Peachy Keen Stamps for the face
- Raffia from my stash

Here's How:I filled the 12 x 12 page with the box image and just followed the perforated cuts. That was pretty to follow. I cut the gingerbread man at 2.5" and the candy cane at 2". I stamped the gingerbread man with the Peachy Keen stamp in white. I used Colorbox Frost white. I added glitter to his buttons and frosting. I did not use the buttons on the cut in Jolly Holidays. I punched white cardstock with the Crop-a-Dile instead. I arranged my gingerbread man and the candy cane. I thought the candy cane needed more so I added a ribbon and a button with raffia. I liked the red buttons with raffia idea so much I added them on the bottom to balance out the design which looked a little top heavy. I also added the red buttons on the top.

Have a wonderful day :)

V I N Y L ! ! Finally!

Well, the day finally came. I tried vinyl and it came out GREAT! I bought the Disney's Pooh Font Cartridge specially to do my son's name in vinyl. I bought a whole load of vinyl because I loved what everyone else was doing with vinyl. I figured, "It can't be too hard, right?"

But I did feel it might be too hard and I had this vinyl and this cartridge just sitting around for months. (I'm embarrassed to admit how many months :/)

I put on big girl panties, took a deep breath and checked the settings: pressure: low, speed: low. Then, I cut away on my little Create. When it finished, I looked at the mat apprehensively. It didn't look like anything happened. I felt dejected but I still had hope. Maybe I could save it?

I peeled the side away slowly and I saw the"A".... then the "n".... then the "d"... - It WORKED! Yay! I know it is a very simple design but I am just so excited. Now my son has his name over his play area. That's pretty cool :)

Sophie Holiday Bookmark

I needed to make something for my sister and the Cricut Circle Magazine Challenge gave me the push to do it. A long time ago, when I was in third grade and my sister was in second grade, I fancied myself an entrepreneur. I made a little catalog of books I would illustrated and I began to sell the idea to my sisters. Only Nelly had a dollar to buy a book - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I really meant to illustrate a handmade book, but it was a daunting task in third grade... I think Nelly forgot about it but I haven't. So I bought her a beautiful version of 'Twas the Night before Christmas this year as one of her gifts - more than twenty years later. With the book will be this bookmark - at least, that will be handmade :)

I Used:
- Sophie Cartridge: leaf3 bookmark at 1.75 x 6, 4 pieces of leaf3 at 1.5,  4 pieces of , leaf3+shift at 1.5, and card 2+shift plain rectangle modified shape with the Gypsy for the sentiment
- Paper Trimmings Cartridge: accent2 for the pointsettia, not an actual pointsettia but I thought it looked pretty and would be a lovely substitute.  It looks a little like a snowflake, too.  :)  There is a pointsettia cut in Paper Trimmings but I need a lighter look for my flower.
- Basic Grey: Pointsettia background (Nordic Christmas) and light green rectangle (Skate Shoppe) with sentiment
- Tim Holtz : Brushed Corduroy Distressed Ink Pad
- Faerie Glass: Holly Berry
- CTMH: "Hope Love Joy" sentiment from Art Philosophy Collection
- CTMH: Baby Pink Ink Pad
- Tattered Angels: Marshmallow Mist

Here's How:I inked the edges of the bookmark with Brushed Corduroy. I carefully arranged the 8 leaf pieces on the bookmark. I put the dark green ones in the back and the lighter green leaves in the front.

The accent piece from Paper Trimmings that I intended to use as a poinsettia was too flat as just white so I inked it with CTMH's baby pink using a dauber. It also mimicked the pink in the pointsettia of the Baisc Grey Paper.  To give my flower a little dimension, I spritz it with water and worked it into the palm of my hands so that it became a kind of bowl shape. I spritz it with Marshmallow Mist for some glitz. I used a glue dot to give it dimension and placed it on the leaves. I put a drop of Glossy Accents for the Faerie Glass in Holly Berry. That finished up the pointsettia and leaves part of the bookmark. I hope you can see the glimmer in this picture:

I took the rectangle and inked the edges with Brushed Corduroy. The words are actually separate pieces but I put them together on the acrylic block. I felt they were nice sentiments for the season. I stamped it on the rectangle in black with Staz-On Black.

So there it is! A bookmark for a long awaited book... I think she will like it!

Happy Holidays Reindeer

I was inspired by Tim Holtz's reindeer Christmas tag. His is just gorgeous and there is no way I can replicate his tag. But I wanted to try something close to what Tim Holtz with the hope that it would be half as good :) I had no idea how much work he put into his creations until I saw the tutorial on his blog. Just: WOW! 

I Used:
- Provocraft Cricut - Christmas cartridge - reindeer and wreath
- Ranger Perfect Pearls
- Meliss Frances - Glass Glitter
- Tim Holtz Distress Pads - Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy
- Tattered Angels - Brown Suede and Vintage Pink
- Seam Binding
- DCWV background - Old World
- Papertrey Ink - Linen Impression Plate
- Tsukineko - Versamark
- CTMH Holiday Wishes stamp set - "Holiday Wishes" sentiment

Here's How:
I cut the reindeer out at about 3 inches and the the wreath at an inch and half. I decided to use non-traditional christams colors just to explore and play around with colors. I ink the edges of each with Antique Linen. I added Glass Glitter, which is like old fashioned glitter. Chunky, sparkly and fun! I covered the reindeer in Versamark. I brushed on Perfect Pearls and heat set it with a heating tool.

I used a plain old paper trimmer to cut the tag at 3 1/4 X 5. The Old World collection is just perfect for an aged, but beautiful look.  I used We R Memory Keepers Corner Chompers to round the corners. I lightly inked the edges in Antique Linen.

My trusty paper trimmer also cut out a rectangle at 3 x 3/4. I hand cut the "V" in the banner. I ran the banner through Brushed Corduroy for a deeper color and then brushed the Antique Linen to age it a bit. I stamped "Happy Holidays" with Versamark and added pink mica. I have been experimenting with Versamark by adding mica and perfect pearls to stamped images. I really like the soft and even faded look you can get.

Now for the seam binding. So easy to do! I bought a whole load of white seam binding so I could make my own wrinkled, colored seam binding. I saw it in a video my sister sent me and I have been obsessed with making it. I finally did it! Spritz a little Vintage Pink and Brown Suede and a little water and VOILA! That's a pretty cool trick.

Before I attached the ribbon, I ran the tag through the Cuttlebug with PTI Linen Impression Plate. I thought it would give it an extra aged look. It adds these dot-like impressions.  I love it! Here's the close-up:

Dreams

I created this card with my mother-in-law in mind. She loves the vintage, shabby chic kind of look.  I don't think it is shabby chic but it has a certain vinatge feel to it.  The twenties beauty is from Hampton Stamps.  I don't remember the collection name but it had two more twenties portaits and a lady that looked like Jospehine Baker.

I Used:

- Hampton Stamps - Twenties Beauty

- K and Company - Que Sera, Sera Paper

- Tim Holtz - Crackle Finish in Clear Rock Candy and Antique Linen Distress Pad

- Prima - flowers

- Viva Pearl Pen - Cream

- Provocraft Cricut Cartridge - Lacy Labels

- Melissa Fances - "Dream" rub on

- Making Memories - dusky blue ribbon

- Tattered Angels - Brown Suede Mist

Here's How:

I used my Imagine to cut out the oval and the frame from the Que Sera, Sera paper with the Lacy Labels cartridge.  I chose a paper from the collection that was light but that still had some of the collage elements. 

I stamped the twenties beauty on the paper and it gave it a worn look.  I added some crackle finish to give it an even more worn, vintage look. 

The crackle finish needs some time to dry so as it was drying, I added the ribbon to the card. 

I spritz the pink prima flowers with Brown Suede by Tattered Angels and pasted to together.  I added a dot of cream colored Viva Pearl.  I tore a piece of paper and distressed it further with Antique Linen.  Irubbed on "Dreams" and placed it on the ribbon.

Once the crackle dried, I pasted the frame onto the portrait.  I thought I was finished but the ribbon looked so plain so I added Viva Pearl dots to the ribbon.  Now it looked finished! :)